How To Fix Google Play Services Battery Drain

January 7, 2019

Google Play Services Battery Drain Fix. This tutorial teaches you how to solve Google Play Services battery drain issues on your Android device. As you know, a Google Play Services uninstall is not possible. And, even if you do uninstall Google Play Services by chance, you risk ruining the functionality of your Android device. For those of you who don’t know,

As you can see this is an integral part of your Android system and as such one cannot have an Android device that works at 100% capacity without the Google Play Services integration.

If you experience high battery drainage caused by Google Play Services, or Google Play Service Battery consumption appears to be quite high in your battery stats, you can try to fix the Google Play Services battery drain to solve the issue by doing the following:

Is Google Play Services Up To Date?

Did you start to notice that your battery drains after a Google Play Services OTA update?

If so, then you can check for a beta version or try to rollback to a previous version using APK Mirror.

Check What’s Draining Battery Life

Luckily, Android displays the apps and system services that consume the most battery life. Do find out which Google Plays Services or other service drains your battery life the most, simply open your Android’s Settings application and select the Battery option to view apps and services in use.

This function also displays the percentage of battery power used by things like the screen, camera, music app as and most other apps and services on your device. Typically, the screen/display finds itself at the top of the list as the most power consuming aspect of your Android device.

Quick Tip: You may reduce the power used by the screen by reducing the brightness of the display or by using your Android’s screen less (the former of which should be the most logical option for most people).

Things That Can Cause Google Play Services Battery Drain

6 Things That Can Cause Google Play Services Battery Drain And How To Fix Them

Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Android 7.0 Nougat, and Android 8.0 Oreo all have better options to manage your battery life. Android 9 Pie will have even better optimization options. However, always check the following:

GPS

Battery Draining Apps

Security Software

Sync Errors

Too Many Accounts

Third-Party Applications

Make Google Services Use Less Battery

Individual apps appear in the list, and you see exactly which apps are using battery power. Apps you actively use probably appear near the top. Once you’ve identified the apps that consume the most energy, then, you can uninstall them or disable them when not in use.

However, Google Services are bunched together under one heading “Google Play Services”. What does this mean? Here are some of the things that this includes followed by simple ways to make Google play services use less of your battery power.

Account Manager (Google): Little information is available on exactly what this service does, but it seems to handle syncing for Google account data, including email and other related things.

Contacts Sync {Google}: Google Contacts Sync syncs your Android contacts back and forth with your Google account’s contacts — you can find these in Gmail or at google.com/contacts. The sync is two-way so that you can modify a contact on your Android device or the web, and your changes will appear in both places.

Google Backup Transport: This service allows Android apps to back up their data onto Google’s servers. When you perform a factory reset on an Android device or set up a new one, your app’s data can be restored.

Google Play Services: Google Play Services is a layer of services Android apps can use. This includes location services, which is the most significant battery drain here. The “Google Play Services” package can be updated on-the-fly without an operating system update

Here are some easy ways to regain battery life on your Android and prevent Google Play Services from hogging all of your precious battery life (without needing to uninstall you coveted apps and games).

Stop Automatic Syncing

One of the main battery drainers, directly related to Google Services, is the sync feature on your Android device. If you have more than 1 Google accounts connected to your smartphone, then you need to consider removing one or more.

If you don’t want to remove them, then you need to disable automatic syncing to save battery life. Believe it or not, this can get you 50% increases in battery life and performance. Here’s how to disable automatic syncing:

Turn auto-sync on or off for your Google Account

With auto-sync, all your apps automatically stay up to date. Furthermore, any changes you make in these apps on other devices sync to other devices. (This relates to Gmail, Preferences, etc.)

Just turn on auto-sync for that Google Account on your device. One quick way to do this is by pulling down the notification bar and disabling auto-sync in the quick-access bar. Here are the other methods:

On devices running Android 5.0 and Marshmallow/Nougat

Resolve Google Play Services battery drain Lollipop/Marshmallow/Nougat problems by turning off auto-sync using the following steps

On your mobile device, open Settings.

Under “Personal,” touch Accounts.

In the top-right corner, tap menu.

Check or uncheck Auto-sync data.

Also, you can disable automatic syncing via the pull-down menu. Just swipe from the top of the screen to access the quick options and expand, if needed, to locate and disable automatic syncing.

Fix Google Play Services battery drain KitKat problems by turning off auto-sync using the following steps:

On your mobile device, open Settings.

Additionally, under “Wireless & networks,” touch Data usage.

Now, in the top-right corner, select menu.

Lastly, check or uncheck Auto-sync data.

Turn sync on or off for specific apps

If you have auto-sync for your account turned off, you can still make sure that specific apps stay synchronized. For example, you can choose to have only your Gmail app stay up to date across all the places where signed into your Google Account. Also, disable the Google Play Services Keep Awake feature.

Touch your account. If you have a Google account on your device, touch Google, then your account.

Touch the account whose sync settings you want to change. You’ll see a list of apps and data that this account can sync with and when they last synced.

Switch on (or check) items you want to keep synchronized and stop (or uncheck) things you don’t want to sync automatically. When you turn on sync for an app, you’ll see the sync icon while the app syncs.

Make Google Services Use Less Battery

Google Play Services using more battery? When an app needs to use your location, the app sends a request to Google Play Services, and it wakes up your GPS hardware, to configure your current location.

The GPS functionality uses your battery power (more than you think) and extended use of the GPS will fall under “Google Play Services and not necessarily the app that requested your GPS location. To save your battery, you need to go to:

Settings > Location and change the Mode to “Battery saving.”

And, if you want to save that extra battery life then you can choose to disable location tracking features from the settings menu as well.

However, rest assured that you can go back to these settings to re-enable the service if ever you need to gain access to your GPS. After you have done this, you may proceed to the next steps in the tutorial.

Disable Google Play Services

The following information allows you to disable google play services to enhance performance and reduce battery consumption. Turn off Google Play services running in the background that you do not use.

Note, it is ok to disable some specific Google play services that are of no use to you. DO NOT, in any instance, do not remove the Google Play Services as a whole from your Android phone.

Reduce Google Play Services Battery Drain (Disable Google Now)

Disabling the Google Search app – which also includes Google – almost always makes a request to Google Play Services to get your location to display weather and other location-specific information.

Also, disable the Google Now feature entirely. Disabling the Google Now feature saves the battery power on your device.

Open the Google app from your app drawer to access Google Now,

tap the menu button at the bottom of the screen,

tap Settings,

disable Google Now if you don’t want to use it.

You can always re-enable it later.

Below you can learn how to disable Google Play Services Idle Battery Drain. Though, this requires you to use external APK files (not found in the play store).

Not interested in this method? Then, move on to the next page for a video tutorial explaining how to reduce Google Play Services battery draining issues.

Google Play Services Idle Battery Drain Issue Solved

Disable these two services using Disable Service App. That’s it, nothing more! You should note that by using this application, you will not be able to use location services.

If you do, you’ll have to re-enable these two services every time you want to use Maps or any app that uses location. Not to worry, though, there are two apps for enabling and disabling these two services; you can use them as shortcuts whenever you want to enable or disable the two services.

Tidbits (Outdated)

Also, attached XML files of the tasks that you can import into Tasker. Profile condition should be whatever apps that use location when launched. Use “Enable service task” as the command for “enter task” and “disable task” as “exit task”.

A minor bug I noticed with Google Maps, enable the two services and turn on Location then launch the app, but it won’t show you your location sometimes, exit app, clear it from recent and start again to get it working. Thanks to the great minds over at XDA forums for this (reports are that these work for most users).

GServiceFix – Android Apps on Google Play

GServiceFix is a great app to have if you’re just looking to disable the battery draining features of Google Play Services. “After using the app, turn off GPS and sync to save battery according to usage.”

It will take a couple of times to work depending on os version. A workaround for the battery draining bug caused by Services / OS / System.

Google Play Services are the background tasks on devices that keep all of the company’s services in sync and updated. These background tasks cover necessary environment, among other services which result in massive battery drain of your device. Download and Install GServiceFix and see if it works for you.

3C Toolbox is the must-have app for every Android user and every root user. Yes, the app requires a rooted Android device for maximum functionality. However, you may use it for other purposes that do not require root access.

3C Toolbox combines many great apps into one giant toolbox with a modern and easy-to-use interface. 3C Toolbox has every tool you need to monitor, control and fine-tune all your Android devices.

Video: How to Fix Google Play Services Battery Drain!

BTechTalk: How to Fix Google Play Services Battery Drain! Today, I’ll show you how to fix the Google Play Services Battery Drain. After which, you won’t run out of battery life on your Android device/smartphone in the middle of the day. Has this post helped you? Did you save battery life? Then, share the post with other Android users.

Google Play Services battery drain: More Troubleshooting Tips

Is Google Play Services eating battery because you have loads of accounts?

Play Services, as mentioned, downloads data in the background. These data include emails or ads that appear in apps. Furthermore, they can bee notifications or checking your location to see if it needs to trigger a Google Now event. I

Is your Android connected to multiple Google Accounts? Then, Google Play Services checks for data for each of your accounts.

Is a third party app misusing Google Play Services?

If the battery drain is a recent development, the problem might not be with Google Play Services but with one of the apps that use it. Try booting into Safe Mode; if your battery problem goes away, that’s a pretty big hint that the Google Play Services battery problem is down to a third party app.

Is Google encountering Sync errors?

Sync errors occur when Google attempts to synchronize data but fails to do so. For example, if Google can’t connect to a server. Problems with your data can also cause sync errors. Is there an issue with your contacts, calendar or Gmail that can cause Google to keep trying (and failing) to synchronize your local data with Google’s servers?

Removing and re-adding accounts can solve persistent sync errors but, before you do that, try disabling Mobile Data in Settings for a minute and then turning it back on again. Alternatively, connect to a WiFi network and verify whether or not the error still exists.

Conclusion

That’s it for now. Do you know of any other tips and tricks to help preserve the battery life on your Android device? Then, please share these tips in the comments below.

Questions & Answers Section

Is Google Play Services eating battery because you have more than one Google Account?

Google Play Services’ principal task is to download things in the background. It could be your emails or notifications. If your device is connected to multiple Google Accounts, for example, because you have personal and work accounts, then Google Play Services has to do all that for multiple accounts.

Is a third party app misusing Google Play Services?

If the battery drain is a recent development the problem then it might not be with Google Play Services but with one of the apps that use it. Try booting into Safe Mode; Did your battery problem go away? Then, the Google Play Services battery problem is down to a third party app.

Is Google encountering Sync errors?

Sync errors are when Google tries to synchronize data but can’t, for example, because it can’t connect to a particular server. Removing and re-adding accounts can solve persistent sync errors but before you do that, try disabling Mobile Data in Settings for a minute and then turning it back on again.

Is it your GPS?

When an app needs your location, it requests it through Google Play Services, which gets the information by using your GPS hardware. Using GPS takes up a lot of battery, and since Google Play Services facilitates this process, it can appear to be taking up the battery life when the GPS is really the culprit.

Are you using a 3rd party task killer app?

Task killers are supposed to disable unwanted processes, and they do – but sometimes the result of killing a task is that it immediately starts back up again, so you end up making your phone work even harder than before. That’s an easy one to check: if you’ve downloaded one, try disabling it and see what effect it has on battery life. If you didn’t download one, you can ignore this step.

Are you running a 3rd party security software?

Security software has an effect on battery life because it’s always on. Like Windows, the threat of malware on Android is blown out of proportion: if you don’t download from dodgy app stores and don’t open unexpected attachments, the risk of infection is very small. As with the task killer, try disabling your security software (again, if you downloaded one) and see what happens.

114 Comments

Hi, I cannot say for sure. While many custom ROM, like CyanoGenMod aim to improve performance and battery life, it all turns into a matter of trial and error. I would advise that you do your research before making any choice. Thanks for your comment.

Here’s what you do. Go to your settings, then to your apps. Go to Google play services and erase all the data. It will tell you that it might cause problems too if you delete all your data, trust me, it won’t. My Google play services were using 40% of my battery. It was my number one battery drainer. After clearing all data, it went to 4%, all the way to the bottom of the list.

Hi, I cannot say for sure. While many custom ROM, like CyanoGenMod aim to improve performance and battery life, it all turns into a matter of trial and error. I would advise that you do your research before making any choice. Thanks for your comment.

Here’s what you do. Go to your settings, then to your apps. Go to Google play services and erase all the data. It will tell you that it might cause problems too if you delete all your data, trust me, it won’t. My Google play services were using 40% of my battery. It was my number one battery drainer. After clearing all data, it went to 4%, all the way to the bottom of the list.

One should always carry out lots of research when thinking of using any custom ROM. There are a few reports of Google Play Services battery drain on CyanogenMod Roms. I’m sorry that you had that experience.

One should always carry out lots of research when thinking of using any custom ROM. There are a few reports of Google Play Services battery drain on CyanogenMod Roms. I’m sorry that you had that experience.

I had this problem with my Nexus 5 and I had to tweak a few settings in Google Play Services to get the battery to stabilize. One thing that I can add is that most of the times, by turning off location services and the auto-sync on can see major improvement in battery life on the device.

I had this problem with my Nexus 5 and I had to tweak a few settings in Google Play Services to get the battery to stabilize. One thing that I can add is that most of the times, by turning off location services and the auto-sync on can see major improvement in battery life on the device.

I recently noticed that my battery stats have google services as the highest battery drain on my Moto G. I don’t know much about Android but I try some of these tips and I’ll monitor the results over the next few days.

I recently noticed that my battery stats have google services as the highest battery drain on my Moto G. I don’t know much about Android but I try some of these tips and I’ll monitor the results over the next few days.

Google Play Services cause battery drain on many devices: A quick search on Google turns up numerous reports of Google Play Services eating battery in KitKat and Lollipop, on the Note 4, Nexus 6 and Galaxy S6. This is a good article to help investigate Google Play Services battery drain and how to fix the problem/s.

Google Play Services cause battery drain on many devices: A quick search on Google turns up numerous reports of Google Play Services eating battery in KitKat and Lollipop, on the Note 4, Nexus 6 and Galaxy S6. This is a good article to help investigate Google Play Services battery drain and how to fix the problem/s.

Hi Elton, you can try to use the tips outlined in the article to solve the problem with Google Play Services and your S6. There is also a Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge battery draining tutorial that you can follow to further optimize your device. Thanks for your comment.

Hi Elton, you can try to use the tips outlined in the article to solve the problem with Google Play Services and your S6. There is also a Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge battery draining tutorial that you can follow to further optimize your device. Thanks for your comment.

What’s strange is that the google play services draining battery on lollipop devices is more than on KitKat and this is supposed to be an upgrade. I shouldn’t have to disable anything to get better performance.

What’s strange is that the google play services draining battery on lollipop devices is more than on KitKat and this is supposed to be an upgrade. I shouldn’t have to disable anything to get better performance.

I had the same issues where my Droid Turbo Google Play Services battery consumption was off the charts. I managed to get it to settle a bit but I am still not satisfied with the overall battery life on the Droid Turbo.

I had the same issues where my Droid Turbo Google Play Services battery consumption was off the charts. I managed to get it to settle a bit but I am still not satisfied with the overall battery life on the Droid Turbo.

Google Play Services battery drain Note 4 has plagued me from the very start. It turns out that it was the auto-sync feature. I have too many email accounts on my Note 4. I removed some and set it to manual sync. I saw improvements in my Note 4 battery life. I also adjusted the location services settings. I only hope that I remember to sync my email.

Google Play Services battery drain Note 4 has plagued me from the very start. It turns out that it was the auto-sync feature. I have too many email accounts on my Note 4. I removed some and set it to manual sync. I saw improvements in my Note 4 battery life. I also adjusted the location services settings. I only hope that I remember to sync my email.

I’m sorry that you cannot resolve the Google Play Services battery drain on your Galaxy S5. Without access to the smartphone, I’m afraid that these are the best tips that we can offer. Please consider taking your device to a technician for further assistance.

I’m sorry that you cannot resolve the Google Play Services battery drain on your Galaxy S5. Without access to the smartphone, I’m afraid that these are the best tips that we can offer. Please consider taking your device to a technician for further assistance.

I have the problem with battery draining after I got new google play services update 9.2.56 (038-124593566). Unfortunally non of the tips worked for me. I had to disable the location determination unter “Settings/User/Location”. Hopefully google will fix this Problem.

I have the problem with battery draining after I got new google play services update 9.2.56 (038-124593566). Unfortunally non of the tips worked for me. I had to disable the location determination unter “Settings/User/Location”. Hopefully google will fix this Problem.